Telling "our" Good News Through the Media!
by Ronald Landfair
We were nearing the end of the interview. I had interviewed our retired
former bishop, (now the late Bishop Kenneth Povish) for a story in our
diocesan magazine publication (faith Magazine). He had also been my recent
guest on a local public affairs radio broadcast that I had guest-hosted
for five years. I usually did between ten and fifteen shows a year on the
Saturday morning AM frequency broadcast, and I always tried to have a
"Catholic -based" show as much as possible. Bishop Povish had written at
least a weekly column for someone-somewhere for nearly the last fifty
years. "What don't we, "as Catholics" do very well?", I asked. The
open-ended question wasn't intended to be controversial as such, our
topics had as usual ranged far and wide. What Bishop Povish said however,
clearly flummoxed me. "Well Ron, to be honest, we don't do media well"
"What-what do you mean?" I said perplexedly. He continued, "The
Methodists, the Baptists, the evangelicals get it, but often we Catholics
just don't get it." As I looked at him confusedly, he went on: "In
general, we just don't know how to use media, and how to use it
effectively to reach as many people as we can, to spread the Gospel, to
promote our causes, to define who we are, what we say, what we teach and
why!" I picked up the obvious dangling thread and pulled it. "Why?" I
asked him, "Why do you think we lag behind the others?". "We just don't
get it!", he said. "We need to put more resources behind communication,
not less, and stop feeling so apologetic about it."
Although he has now passed on to glory, Bishop Povish was right. It seems
that few dioceses really do "get it"-"it" being the understanding and role
that communications plays and what a comprehensive aggressive diocesan
orientation towards media can do for the ministries it provides to the
People of God. In truth, many of them do one thing or another and they
often do it quite well. Yet, what is missing is a basic understanding from
a diocesan director or individual ministerial framework of the role that
media plays and it's importance in the Church's presentation of itself to
the larger community.
In truth, all dioceses and archdioceses have a communications director
whose responsibilities (while admittedly varied) do involve direct contact
with local media outlets. This is not to suggest a usurping of the role
that the communications director plays, but perhaps rather what is needed
is a more comprehensive understanding and utilization of the media by
diocesan directors of various offices within the structure or
infrastructure of the diocese or archdiocese. For example, platforms for
writing or publishing, radio and even television exposure are all around
us, and may require only minimal effort to surface and impact.
Regrettably, few of us seize upon such opportunities. Authors such as Frs.
Cyprian Davis, Clarence Williams, Raymond Brown and Diana Hayes and other
national and international theologians are well enough known. Yet, local
newspapers, national magazines and the like are always looking for good
stories, points of view and opinion pieces, told from a particular
contextual view-what is decidedly missing are the Black and
African-American writers to tell those stories! How often do Black
Catholic writers and journalists make the effort to tell their stories in
these national magazines like America, US Catholic, The Catholic Digest,
etc.?
A cursory review of the magazine(s) can easily acquaint one with the
preferred writing styles of the publication, and the editors are often
only too happy to accommodate requests for writers' guidelines for
publication. While writing primarily for our own award-winning faith
Magazine, I have submitted pieces to many Catholic outlets (including our
local diocesan newspaper, a Catholic New Services (CNS) affiliate. While I
am quite proud to have been published in America Magazine each year for
the last four years-I have had many more pieces rejected far more often.
How many of us submit works to America Magazine, US Catholic magazine,
Commonweal, The Catholic Digest, or the Catholic News Service? Such
rejections do not deter me, they only serve to make me sharpen and focus
my craft work even more so. It is the lot of the writer. It is the new and
as yet, largely untapped media mine of Black Catholicism.
A secondary glance at the field of television reveals much of the same
lack of presence that Bishop Povish spoke about. The greatest untapped
market for Catholic television presence is in the area of local cable
access. Every local cable system, because of their operating agreements
with local governments are required by law to provide opportunities for
free local cable access programming to the larger community. A cursory
review of your own local cable access offerings will usually reveal a
decided absence of programming oriented towards the Catholic viewer.
Programs articulating a fundamentalist, Protestant "Bible-only" view are
far more the norm, as is programming centered in the Black Christian (but
not Catholic) view. Many storefront churches use a weekly television
platform to display themselves and their various ministries far more
effectively than the Catholic church has ever done! It is not some vast
conspiracy or secret as to how they have gained such access-they merely
attend the required training schemes that provide education and overviews
with regard to using the local cable station resources and equipment and
they are up and running in no time! Introduced to the arena by a Black
Baptist minister friend (who currently has three shows airing at various
times on local public cable access!), I now enjoy hosting a monthly talk
show that has for the last eighteen months focused attention on the
various ministries within our diocesan framework-from Vocations to
Hispanic and Migrant Ministry. Imagine the programming possibilities if
local dioceses or even individual directors were to make use such
resources! The possibilities are limited only by our own imagination!
Towards that end (working in conjunction with one of our local diocesan
high schools), in the fall of 2004, the Diocese of Lansing will be
offering a "High School Media Program" that will utilize local public
cable access platforms along with Catholic media professionals in offering
a semester long guest lecture series that will focus on the various roles
and types of media platforms and careers that are possible. Never in our
diocesan history has there been such a deliberate and intentional focus to
raise up the next generation of Catholic writers, media professionals,
directors, broadcasters etc. by giving them opportunities now, to explore
and be exposed to careers in broadcast and print journalism and media. I
suspect that is true for most (if not all of the local US church as well).
My presence on local radio for the last five years has been more
deliberate. While serving as a guest on the local urban affairs talk radio
program for the mid-Michigan area, the host and I struck up a friendship
that has since occasioned me the opportunity to serve as his regular
guest-host. When not pre-empted by the local college football
presentation, I normally do between 12-15 shows per year. That then, is
12-15 opportunities to showcase Catholic interests, persons and programs
that might otherwise go unnoticed. I have been privileged to have both our
current Bishop and former Bishop, Catholic Charities and numerous other
representatives of the Church as my guests. Such presence is of undeniable
value-it is our responsibility to use the media in such fashion.
Perhaps in a nutshell then what Bishop Povish is getting at generically ,
is that one of our largest failures in the arena of Black and
African-American ministry specifically (my italics) is our failure to
seize and utilize the media to tell our stories. We must publish, we must
write, we must script, we must direct. To be sure, there are some
fantastic works out there. The Society of the Divine Word, Enduring Faith,
African-American Spirituality by Fr. Bede Abram are great works, and
sources thereof, but where is our presence in our local media markets?
Where is our presence in our national media? Most markets have public or
local community affairs broadcast of some kind-are we present there?
As Black and African-American Catholics, we must become our own
storytellers of our own faith experiences. We must use existing works as
well as developing new inroads and opportunities for the media exploration
of our stories. If we have indeed, "Come this far by faith", then we must
be willing to tell any and everyone who will listen, in as many mediums as
possible.
Ronald is the Director of Black Catholic Ministry and Multi-Cultural
Initiative Projects for the Diocese of Lansing. He has worked extensively
in the fields of radio, television and print, and is a national and
international speaker and presenter on various subjects. He is currently
at work on a book called "Ministry, Media and Marketing in the New
Millennium". Ron is the creator of the national event:" Blood of the
Martyrs-MLK Jr. Blood Drive".
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